


The Gorilla and the Cat

by Perhapsormaybe



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, after the end, takes place after potential hawkmoth arrest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21883567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perhapsormaybe/pseuds/Perhapsormaybe
Summary: Grigori, otherwise known as The Gorilla, didn't know about Hawkmoth or Mayura. But how can Adrien be sure?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gorilla & Adrien
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	The Gorilla and the Cat

**Author's Note:**

> So far as I know, the Gorilla doesn't have a canon name. This is just what I came up with.

Grigori Bobrov was not sure what to think when he saw his boss being carted off to prison. He'd been even more confused when Nathalie had been apprehended as well, the pair revealed as Hawkmoth and Mayura. But he knew what Adrien was thinking now. Now that the two were alone in the Agreste mansion, the suspicion was written all over Adrien's face. 

Adrien stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at his bodyguard. He was holding himself up high, chin steady. But Grigori had known Adrien since he was just a baby. He knew the look Adrien got when he wanted to cry but couldn't. Grigori shook his head vigorously.

 _I am not like them_ , he thought desperately, urging his thoughts to reach Adrien. But Adrien was not a mind reader. And Grigori had trouble talking. Especially in moments like these. The moments when the most was at stake, he often found that it felt like his tongue had glued itself to the roof of his mouth. He felt the protestations rising at the back of his throat, the assurances that he had had nothing to do with Gabriel's planning. That he had not known that Emelie Agreste's body had been in a chamber under the house this entire time. But he couldn't spit it out.

“Did you know?” Adrien demanded. Grigori shook his head. “How can I trust you? How can I trust anyone?” Adrien crossed his arms, squeezing himself tightly in a bid to find comfort. This was his first day back in the mansion since the arrest.

He had stayed with Chloe while the police had gone over the place with a fine tooth comb, but they weren't able to find much more than what Ladybug and Chat Noir had already revealed to them – Emelie's chambers. Ladybug had taken the miraculous herself and insisted that it couldn't pass into police hands. So Adrien had come back now that he'd been given the all clear, intent to find any evidence he could to help lock his father and Nathalie away. He hadn't thought about the Gorilla in all of this. Not until they'd almost literally ran into each other. 

Grigori had an idea. He jerked his head in the direction of the dining room, hoping Adrien would follow him. Adrien watched him, but soon followed him, even if he did look weary.

Grigori took a seat and pulled a pen and a pad of paper out of his pocket. 

_I'm sorry. I didn't know. Promise._ He scrawled it out and slid the paper in Adrien's direction. Adrien read quickly, then gave a quizzical look. Grigori gestured for the paper back. 

_I have trouble with getting the words to come out. They won't always come out. Writing is usually easier._

“Oh,” comprehension dawned on Adrien, and he nodded. “This is ok. But would you prefer that I write my questions as well? Or is saying them ok?”

_You can just ask. So long as you're ok with me answering on the paper_

“Yes, that's fine.”

It was slow going. Grigori was a large man, and the pen was very small. He had to be careful, as he was likely to break it on accident and he had to try very hard to make sure his writing was legible. It had always been kind of sloppy, and right now he needed it to be easy for Adrien to comprehend.

“Did you know that room was down there?”

_No_

“Did you know my mom was still alive?” Alive, Adrien supposed, was relative at this point. The pod Gabriel had her hooked into kept her alive, but it was more like a deep sleep. Marinette had promised him she would look to see if she could figure out some way to save his mother. That had been another shock – finding out Marinette was Ladybug. He would have been overjoyed if he hadn't been distracted with his family drama.

 _I thought_ he stopped and crossed out the word 'thought' _I hoped she was still alive, but I didn't know. Nathalie rarely said anything to me, and your father only ever gave me orders. I think they only talked to each other about it._

“But how do I know I can trust you?” Adrien looked so desperate, and Grigori knew what he had to do.

_I knew one thing_

“What?” Adrien already looked like his heart was breaking again. 

_I knew ...I know you are Chat Noir_

Adrien shook his head. “No. I just played him in a movie, remember?”

_You did both. There's also that little black cat thing that I see in the rear view mirror sometimes when I'm driving you. I thought you just had a pet until I realized it was floating. You're Chat Noir_

“How long?” Adrien demanded. “How long have you known?”

_A few months. I never told anyone, don't worry._

Adrien slumped over in his chair, resting his head on the table. “So what do I do? Father's in prison, Nathalie's in prison. The Dupain-Chengs said they would take me in, but it doesn't seem fair to them. What would _you_ do after all of this?”

_Don't know. It's not a problem I've ever had._

“There are so many bad memories in this place. Some good ones, too,” Adrien conceded. “But when I think back on moments with father or ...or even with mother, nothing seems right about them. I thought it was something wrong with me, or that maybe I was being ungrateful.”

_They put too much on you. Kids should be allowed to be kids_

It felt damn good to Grigori to be able to finally get that out. He had never approved of his employer's parenting methods, but it wasn't his place to say. Right now, all he could think was good riddance. But Adrien still needed to be cared for. 

Grigori had never failed to be amazed by how cheerful and kind Adrien had ended up, despite his privileged upbringing or how sheltered he'd been. He truly cared about people, and that was part of why Grigori had kept quiet about Adrien's secret life as a super hero. Not only was Adrien an excellent hero, Grigori truly believed the boy needed that outlet. 

Grigori's last sentence went unanswered and unchallenged as they sat together in silence as the clock on the wall ticked out several minutes. Finally, Adrien stood up, the chair squeaking unpleasantly against the floor as he pushed himself up from the table. 

He gave Grigori a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. Grigori wrapped his arms around Adrien in response and squeezed as gently as he could manage, trying to hold back his strength. “I believe you."

The next day, which thankfully was a Saturday, Adrien sought out Marinette at her parents' bakery. She wasn't working the floor, but her parents had urged him to go on up to their home to see her. Tom had insisted he take a croissant, then stuffed some macarons into his pocket. “Just happened to have some overstock on passion fruit macarons, no big deal,” Tom had insisted. Adrien figured it had to be a lie that they'd had almost a full tray of his favorite as leftovers, but he didn't press the matter. Just thanked them and hurried along.

Adrien knocked and waited patiently for Marinette to answer. He felt Plagg shifting irritably in his front pocket. Despite the kwami's protests, Adrien knew he really wanted to see Tikki. He suspected the little cat loved the ladybug kwami, but Plagg fervently denied it whenever Adrien asked.

“Just see if it's unlocked and then go in,” Plagg hissed. 

“It hasn't been that long,” Adrien chided. “Just give her a moment.”

It took a few seconds more, but Marinette finally opened the door. She looked surprised to see him, but motioned him in immediately before ushering him into her room. 

“Are you moving in, then?” Marinette looked more serious than he expected, and he felt even more like kicking himself for not realizing immediately that she was Ladybug. It was so obvious in retrospect. “Mama and Papa said they invited you to move in, I thought you might be taking them up on it.”

“No,” he shook his head and popped a macaron in his mouth, offering another one to her. She shook her head, but Tikki popped out of her hiding spot and swiped the cookie. 

“Tikki!”

Adrien chuckled. “It's all right. I have plenty. How are you, Tikki?”

“I'm well, thank you!” Tikki chirped before taking a happy bite out of her cookie. “How are you?”

“That's what I came to talk to Marinette about. Do you think you and Plagg could ...um...”

“You need to be alone,” Tikki surmised. 

“No fair,” Plagg came out of Adrien's pocket and hovered in midair, crossing his arms. “Tikki gets a cookie and I have no cheese and you're leaving me out of important conversations.”

“Plagg,” Adrien said warningly. There was no real threat behind it. Not much one could do to a God of Destruction. Especially not much someone as kind as Adrien could do. But Plagg felt the kid had been through enough lately, his fit had really only been to have something Adrien would view as normal happen. 

“I expect a whole wheel of cheese in exchange. Come now, Tikki. We aren't wanted here.” The pair floated off and through a wall. Tikki suddenly phased her head, and only her head, back through.

“We're close enough that we'll hear you shout for us if you need us, but with Hawkmoth gone it should be ok. But just in case.” With that, she phased back through. 

“So what did you want to talk about?” Marinette wanted it to be about them. Desperately. But she figured that was not the conversation they needed to be having right now. Adrien's wounds were still fresh. Seeing his mom in that tube, then unmasking Hawkmoth ...and then Mayura charging to Hawkmoth's defense and being outed as Nathalie. Adrien had probably the worst day one could imagine to have. And it hadn't even been two weeks since then.

“Us,” 

Marinette sputtered. While it's what she wanted to talk about, she couldn't imagine him being ready this quickly. “Us? What about us? That is...I mean, is there an us? I mean, of course there's an us but is there a you know ..Us?”

Adrien smiled fondly at her. “I want there to be. And I'm sorry if I'm being selfish, but I need time first.”

“Of course,” Marinette readily agreed. “But uh-time to do what, exactly?”

Adrien took a seat on her bed and motioned for her to sit next to him. She did, and he put an arm around her and pulled her in closer. “I love you so much. But I need to ask you to wait a little while, so that I can try to put things right. I don't know what to do about mother, but I need to fight to make sure father gets put away, the way he deserves,” Marinette grabbed his hand and squeezed, trying to convey to him to keep going, that she would hear him out. “I want us to be together, but I may not have time for much while I sort through everything. And with what my father did and with everyone already knowing what I look like, public dates would be out of the question for a while.”

“That would be ok!” Marinette slapped a hand over her mouth. She'd spoken more loudly than she'd intended. “That would be fine. And I can wait because...because I love you, too. Look, I can't begin to imagine what you're going through, but I want to help you anyway I can.”

“So could I ask for one favor now?”

“Anything!”

In response, Adrien leaned in and kissed her. She whole heartedly returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning further into him. They were still like that when the kwamis came back into the room. 

“Yuck,” Plagg exclaimed. “Is that really necessary?”

Tikki glared at him. “Is it really necessary for us to come back to get your stinky cheese?” 

Marinette and Adrien pulled away from each other, both of them blushing and looking love struck. 

“You're not still staying in that mansion all alone are you?” Marinette asked, reluctantly letting go of his hand so he could stand up.

“No. I mean...yes, I am staying at the mansion. But I'm not alone. Grigori's with me.”

“Oh. Ok. So long as you're not alone. But let me know if I can help, with anything, ok? Alya and Nino said the same, they want to help you anyway they can.”

“Thanks, Princess. I'll let you know. And I will still be around while I get things sorted, I'll pop in on you from time to time. Or ...probably Chat Noir will.” he winked at her and she smiled. 

“Could Ladybug come see you? She can help with a lot of things, like building the case up.” 

Adrien nodded. “Of course, but you can't let it be your main priority. City still needs saving from every day villains, and my father's a rich old man. Takes a lot to make sure those type get justice served.”

“Take care of yourself, Adrien.”

“I will, Marinette,” He gave her another quick peck before motioning for Plagg to get back in his pocket hiding space. The kwami gave an exaggerated bow in Marinette's direction and then blew a kiss at Tikki before taking up his regular spot. 

Marinette watched him go before collapsing on her pillow, replaying the kiss over and over again. She stopped after a while, and sat up. “Wait. ...Tikki...who's Grigori?”


End file.
